


Life's Too Short

by run_your_clever_boy_and_remember_me



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Injury, Blue - Freeform, Bonding, Boys In Love, Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Galaxy Garrison, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Heavy Angst, Hunk & Keith (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) Friendship, Keith and Taylor, Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Near Death Experiences, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Quiznack, Red - Freeform, Red vs. Blue References, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Taylor - Freeform, Voltron?, bonding moment, broganes, when I say vol you say tron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29969838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/run_your_clever_boy_and_remember_me/pseuds/run_your_clever_boy_and_remember_me
Summary: (Sort of spoilers ahead:)Lance is on his knees, holding the person he’s just coming to accept that he’s probably in love with in his arms while he bleeds out.“Keith! No, no… Stay with me, stay with me!”Keith has the nerve to laugh. “Looks like the roles are reversed. You’re cradling me in your arms... Shame you don’t remember me cradling you.”or:Retrieval mission goes wrong, Keith gets shot and ends up bleeding out on Lance's arms. With no filters, he pratically confesses.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	Life's Too Short

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was writing this other fic in which Lance has a nightmare, and then I kinda wrote this fic based on that nightmare... Cause that's fun... HAHAHA SORRY
> 
> (In the warnings there are some spoilers, kind of, but please read them if you think you should.)
> 
> Some warnings for you, readers: this fic contains injuries, blood, and mentions of death, a main character having a near-death experience. (A lot of mentions of blood). And there's a lot of angst. But don't worry! There is a happy ending.
> 
> Read at your own risk. I hope you enjoy!

All Lance sees is red. 

Red on the paladin’s armor. Red leaking out nonstop. Red covering his hands. Red pooling around them. 

* * *

It was during a retrieval mission. They were supposed to get into the Galra ship, get the supplies, and get out. They were told there would only be a few sentry guards, nothing they hadn’t done before, nothing they couldn’t handle. A mission just like any other. 

But it wasn’t.

That mission would change their lives for good.

Because what their sources didn’t warn them about was that there would be a Galra reunion on the ship that day. 

It started just like any other mission. They all went in the Green Lion, since it was the only one with camouflage, entered the ship and went for retrieval, minding the sentries.

But suddenly they were being fired at. Dozens and dozens of bloodthirsty Galras coming after them. There are too many of them to fight off. They need to get out of there. They need to get back to Green.

 _We won’t make it_ . Lance is thinking. He wants to do something. _Needs_ to do something to make sure that the team gets back safe. Then they take a turn and he hears Keith shouting:

“Go on, I’ll slow them down!” 

Huh. Apparently he’s not the only one thinking that. 

They all stop and turn to look at him. “No, Keith, we have to stay together. We have to keep going, come on!” Shiro says.

But Keith is already shaking his head. “We won’t make it back to the Lion like that. I’ll buy you some time. Don’t worry about me, I’m fast, I’ll catch up with you guys.”

“Keith, we’re not…”

“Shiro.” Keith says, locking eyes with him and looking dead serious, some sort of understanding passing between them. “Get. Them. Out.” 

Shiro purses his lips, scrunches his eyebrows, clearly conflicted to oblige, but then he says, pointing a finger at Keith and using his dad voice:

“You better be right after us, you hear me?”

Keith smirks. “Loud and clear.”

“Good.” Shiro says. “Come on, guys.”

They start following him, not before a quick “Be careful, man.” from Hunk and a “Yeah, come quickly.” from Pidge. 

The rest of the team keeps going, already taking another turn, but Lance is having none of that. There’s no way Keith can stop them, they’re too many. And Lance is _not_ abandoning Keith to die.

He runs to Keith and prepares his bayard, ready to go down fighting with him if it means his friends will be safe. And, hey, fighting side by side with Keith and saving the rest of the team, there are worse ways to go.

Only then does Keith seem to notice that Lance is still there. “What are you doing? I said go!” he yells at him.

“I’m staying to help.”

“Lance, just leave! I can hold them off for you!”

“No!” It’s Lance’s turn to shout. “I’m not leaving you!”

It all happens so fast. One moment they’re staring at each other, the other Lance hears a laser gun firing, sees a light, and suddenly Keith pales, his eyes widening, his lips parting. He slowly looks down and sees the blood oozing from his chest. He looks up back at Lance, already collapsing.

“No.” Lance catches him before he falls. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

Three Galras come up the hallway. Lance thinks he hears one of them saying: “Let’s go get the others. This one is as good as dead, and the other won’t leave his side. Humans are sentimental. We can take him as a prisoner. Haggar will be pleased to have a new toy to torture.”

But Lance isn’t paying them any attention. He wouldn’t even if they shooted him. He actually thinks it would hurt less.

Lance is on his knees, holding the person he’s just coming to accept that he’s probably in love with in his arms while he bleeds out.

“Keith! No, no… Stay with me, stay with me!”

Keith has the nerve to laugh. “Looks like the roles are reversed. You’re cradling me in your arms... Shame you don’t remember me cradling you.”

And Lance is already crying. “I do! I do remember! Of course I remember, Keith, how could I forget that? I’m sorry I ever said I didn’t.”

Keith gives him a weak smile and starts to close his eyes. 

“No, no, hey! Keith! Keep your eyes open! Don’t you dare pass out on me right now!” Lance doesn’t know what to do, so he tries to stop the bleeding, but with the armor there’s not much he can do to apply pressure and taking it off would probably only do some more damage. 

“Lance… you should go.”

“I’m not going, so don’t even waste your energy trying to convince me to.”

“Lance… They’ll be waiting for you. You have to get back safe.”

“I’m not leaving you!” he says, a little more harshly than he intended to. “We’re a team, remember?” he says, voice gentler. “When I say ‘Vol’, you say...”

“... Voltron?”

Lance just smiles. “I’m getting help, okay? Just stay awake.” he says, turning on the comms on his helmet. “Shiro!” Lance calls. “Shiro, I need help!”

 _“Lance?? Where the quiznack are you?”_ Apparently Shiro hadn’t noticed yet that he’d stayed behind as well, probably too busy keeping the others safe and worrying about Keith. Now he has to worry about Lance too. Great.

_“What happened?”_

“It’s Keith, he…”

 _“Is he okay?”_ The worry in Shiro’s voice hurts Lance to tell him.

“No, he’s… I… I can’t…” Lance barely recognizes his own voice, so broken.

 _“I’m leaving Pidge and Hunk on the Lion and coming back for you. Just hang on.”_ Shiro says, turning off the line. 

He has to focus on keeping Keith alive long enough for Shiro to come back and help him. Then they’ll take him to the Castle and put him in a healing pod, and he’ll be okay. Right? 

He looks down to find Keith blinking heavily, clearly struggling to maintain his eyes open. “Yeah, that’s it, just keep them open, Keith.” he says, taking Keith’s helmet off so he can breathe better. He takes his own too, because his breaths are also coming shallow.

“I’m tired…” Keith says, and his voice is so weak that Lance’s heart tightens painfully.

“I know, I know you are, but I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay, Keith? You think you can do that for me? Just keep them open, okay?” Lance tries to stop crying. He has to be strong for Keith right now, keep a clear head. “Just look at me. Everything’s gonna be okay. You’re okay. Just keep looking at me.” he says, not sure if he’s trying to convince Keith or himself. 

“I…” Keith coughs blood. “I like looking at you.” he says, voice groggy with sleep. Lance realizes that he probably has no filters right now.

“Shhh, it’s okay, don’t talk right now, okay? You’re gonna be fine.” Lance says, brushing Keith’s hair out of his face.

But Keith goes on like he didn’t even hear him. 

“Lance… did I ever tell you you have beautiful eyes?”

“Hey, shhh, save your energy okay?”

“They’re so blue, like the ocean… especially when they’re glistening like that.” He starts to raise his hand to touch Lance’s cheek, but his face contorts in pain and he hisses, his hand falling back down. Lance takes it and holds tightly to it, like a lifeline.

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be fine, just stand still, okay?” Lance says again, as if repeating it enough times will make it true.

Keith just keeps looking at him, trying to keep his eyes open like he asked. Lance can’t quite identify his expression. He’s never seen Keith look like that at anyone before. “You’re so beautiful, Lance…” he whispers. “I’ve always wanted to tell you that.”

And Lance can barely breathe anymore, fighting down the tears becoming too hard. “So tell me later, okay? You can tell me how many times you want, but after you’re better. Just stay with me, okay, Keith?”

But Keith’s smile is fading. His eyes are closing.

“Keith??” Lance says, voice cracking. “Keith, wake up. Please, wake up… Keith, please…” He pulls him closer, hugging him, hiding his face on his neck. “Please don’t leave me…. I… I love you…”

“Lance!” He looks up and sees Shiro running around the corner.

“Shiro! He’s… He’s…” Lance tries to talk, but all that comes out are sobs.

Shiro, understanding the situation, wastes no time. He runs over to them, takes Keith in his arms and stands. He looks back at Lance, still on the ground, staring at his own hands. There’s so much red… There shouldn’t be this much…

“Lance! We need to go right now!” Shiro shouts, snapping Lance out of his trance. They have to run. The longer they stay here, the more blood Keith loses. They need to take him back to the Castle. He needs to be put on a pod, now. Lance can be in shock later. Right now, he has to cover Shiro.

He stands up and they start running. They come across about a dozen Galras on the way, Lance taking them out with his bayard before they even have a chance to react.

They finally get to Green, and lay Keith on a table. Hunk takes a look at Keith’s wound and vomits. Pidge turns almost as pale as Keith. Shiro flies the Lion, seeing that she is in no condition. Green doesn’t even protest the change of pilot, apparently understanding the situation. 

The Castle is not far, the trip couldn’t have taken more than a few doboshes, but for Lance it feels like vargas. He stays at Keith’s side, holding his hand the whole time. No one teases him about it. He wouldn’t have cared if they did. 

Hunk and Pidge would always tease him about how this rivalry he has with Keith was in fact a crush, and Lance would always get embarrassed by that, because deep down he knew they were right, but he wasn’t ready to admit that just yet.

He didn’t think Keith would like him back anyway, so instead of confessing and having his heart broken, he denied it, even to himself, pretending to hate Keith, always bickering with him. 

He was just coming to terms with the fact that he’s feelings for the raven-haired boy weren’t going away, and was struggling to come out with a way to tell his friends, and more importantly, to tell Keith somehow, without making things awkward.

But none of that mattered right now. The moment that Keith collapsed into his arms, all that went away. Now he felt stupid for ever being in denial. For ever caring what the rest of the team would think. Life’s too short for that shit. It goes away in the blink of an eye, so there’s no excuse for not being honest with yourself and your feelings.

They arrive at the Castle and Shiro carries him to the med bay.

“You’re lucky you got here in time, his vital signs are really weak.” he thinks he hears Coran saying. “What happened out there, Lonce?” he vaguely registers Allura asking, but he can’t answer. He can’t relive that right now. He just wants to be alone and cry the rest of the tears he’s had to hold so far.

He hears Shiro saying “Let’s talk later. I think Lance has to rest right now. I think we all do.” Lance can’t express how grateful he is right now, so he just looks at Shiro. He seems to understand and gives Lance a little sad smile, nodding once. 

He feels a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, Lance. I’ll take you to your room so you can clean up.” Hunk says. Lance looks down and realizes he’s all red, covered in blood. Keith’s blood.

“No. I’m staying here.” he says. 

“Lance…”

“No. What if he wakes up? I can’t let him wake up alone.”

“He won’t wake up for at least a couple of quintants, my boy.” Coran says.

“But what if…” Lance insists.

“I’ll stay with him.” Allura says. “It’s okay, I’m not tired from the mission anyway. You go on and take a bath, get some food and rest a little, then you can come over and take my place, okay?”

“But…”

“Lonce.” she says, putting her hands on his shoulders. “He’s gonna be fine. Go. He’ll still be here when you get back.” she says, voice kind. Then she hugs him, surprising him a little, especially since he’s covered in blood and it’s obviously going to stain her dress. 

“It’s very loyal of you to want to stay by his side, but you need to rest. I’ll look after him. I promise.” she says, then pulls back and gives him a smile, wiping a tear off his cheek.

He thinks about how if she had done that and held him like that in the first few weeks since they met, he would’ve been swooning over her, and she would’ve probably just rolled her eyes like she used to. But now, he just feels a spark of friendship that he’s never really felt with her, and he’s so grateful for it that he actually manages a smile. 

How times change.

He nods and lets Hunk take him to his room, never letting go of his shoulder, Pidge going too, leading him by his hand. She hasn’t said a thing since she saw Keith, probably in shock too, but nevertheless she’s there, showing that she cares.

Lance is so grateful for them. He wants to thank them, for being there with him, for being his friends. He can’t find the words right now. Maybe one day he will. But by the way they look at him in his doorway, they already know. 

He gets in the bathroom and starts taking off his armor, his suit, all covered in blood. There is so much blood… He quickly gets under the running water. He can’t stand to look at it anymore. He keeps seeing Keith, bleeding out in his arms. That’s a picture he knows he’ll never forget. He knows it’ll haunt him in his nightmares.

The memories keep flashing before his eyes, now that he’s alone with his thoughts. The sound of the laser being fired. The flash of light. Keith’s face, getting paler. Keith’s red, hot blood, tainting his hands, his suit. Keith’s beautiful violet eyes, struggling to stay open. Keith reaching out to touch his cheek. Keith’s laugh. Keith’s weak smile. Keith’s words…

_I can hold them off for you!_

_You’re cradling me in your arms... Shame you don’t remember me cradling you._

_You have to get back safe._

_I like looking at you._

_Lance… did I ever tell you you have beautiful eyes?_

_They’re so blue, like the ocean…_

_You’re so beautiful, Lance…_

_I’ve always wanted to tell you that._

Lance’s heart skips a beat. Could he… Could he actually like him back?

* * *

  
  


The next few days pass by in a haze. Nothing much happens. They don’t go on missions. They’re not very productive. They barely talk. Especially Lance. 

He stays by Keith’s pod all day long, only leaves to go to the bathroom and to take baths, only leaves to eat when someone else makes him, otherwise starving himself. Hunk sometimes makes something to bring to him, but he has to do so without Shiro noticing, since he’s already told him not to, telling him that it’s not healthy for Lance to be there all the time, that he has to leave and walk a little.

He doesn’t even leave to sleep anymore, staying awake as long as he can and passing out for a few hours on the floor by the pod. At least like this his body is too tired to give him nightmares. Pidge brings him a blanket when she sees he’s almost asleep, so that he doesn’t freeze on the cold floor of the ship.

The team comes and asks if he wants them to take his place for a while so he can rest. He always says no. Sometimes they stay with him anyways. They tried to start conversations, but Lance barely answers them, so they’ve stopped trying, now just sitting with him quietly. It offers him some comfort. His thoughts are not so loud when there’s someone else there with him, so he’s grateful when they stay a while.

Coran had told him that Keith would probably stay there for a couple of days. But now it’s been almost a week and he still hasn’t woken up. Lance is left with his thoughts, that are torturing him.

_What if he doesn’t wake up? You’ll never know how he truly feels. You won’t ever get the chance to tell him how you feel. He will die without knowing that you love him. If he dies, that’s on you. You distracted him, and he got shot. It’s your fault. He’s blood is in your hands._

  
  


* * *

All Keith sees when he opens his eyes is blue. 

Blue surrounding him. When it dissipates and he falls forward, strong arms catching him, blue eyes looking at him with relief but still some worry, and something else he can’t quite place. Blue lights on a screen with his vital signs.

“Guys! Keith woke up!” he hears Pidge screaming into a comm on a screen, before she’s running and tackling him with a hug.

“Oof!” 

“I was so scared, Keith. I’m so glad you’re okay.” she mumbles into his chest.

Keith thinks that that’s the nicest thing Pidge has ever said to him, and the first time she’s actually hugged him. “Um… Thanks, Pidge.” he says, a little shy.

The others come running into the room. Pidge lets go and Hunk tackles him in a quick bonecrushing hug too. “Oh, man, thank god you’re fine!” he says. “You gave us quite the scare there, young man.” says Coran. “Yes, I’m glad you’re better now, Keith.” says Allura.

They all sound so sincere, like they were actually really worried about him. Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit surprised. He didn’t expect them to… Well, to actually care for him. “Uh… Thanks, guys. How long was I out?”

He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns around to see Shiro. “About a week.” he says. “Keith…” Apparently he doesn't find the words, so he just hugs him tightly. But Keith gets the message. _I was so worried. I’m glad you’re alive._

Keith notices that there’s someone missing. Lance is uncharacteristically quiet. He turns around and sees him glaring at him, arms crossed, looking mad.

“Hey…” Keith says, a bit sheepishly, the things he said while he was bleeding out coming back to him. Maybe that’s why Lance’s mad? 

“You idiot!” Lance says, punching him in the arm kinda strongly. He thinks that’s it. Maybe Lance won’t even want to be his friend anymore. Maybe he’s screwed this up for good this time.

But then Lance is pulling him into a hug.

“You can’t just _do_ things like that! I was so worried! Don’t you ever do anything like that ever again!” 

Keith’s arms hover in the air uncertainty for a moment. He desperately looks at the rest of the team, but they’re all just smiling a knowing smile, and it just leaves him even more confused because _what_ do they know?? He’s pretty sure Shiro has known he’s fallen for Lance for a while now, even if he’s never really said it, but that’s it. Why are they _all_ smiling? He can’t have been _that_ obvious, can he?

Then Shiro says “Come on, guys. Let’s give them a moment.” looking at Keith, who shoots him a desperate questioning glance, but Shiro just smiles wider and walks out with the rest of the team.

He wraps his arms around Lance and asks “Hey, um… Are you okay?”

Lance pulls back and Keith is surprised to see that he’s crying.

“No, I’m not okay! I thought you were going to die! Do you have any idea how scared I was? How long these last few days have been? You can’t just say all those things to me and then bleed out in my arms!”

Keith was hoping he wouldn’t mention that. “Yeah, about that…” he starts, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say all those things, I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, I…”

“You didn’t mean to say them or you didn’t mean them?” Lance asks, voice uncertain.

“I… What?”

“Did you mean all those things you said?” Lance asks.

And this really isn’t how Keith wanted to tell him. In all the times he imagined himself finally confessing to Lance, never did he picture this. He’s just woken up from a week long coma, he really doesn’t want to have his heart broken right now.

But he can’t lie to Lance. Not when he’s looking at him with those shining beautiful blue eyes. 

So, biting his bottom lip, nods.

He didn’t know what reaction to expect from Lance, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The boy wraps his arms around his neck and kisses him.

He pulls back, just enough to lock their eyes, and says, without hesitating: “I love you.”

Keith’s mind has stopped working. He manages to get out “I… What? I don’t…”

Lance releases his firm grip, and moves his hands gently, one to the base of Keith’s neck, the other to hold his jaw. He says “I wasn’t going to tell you straight away, because… Well, I don’t want to scare you off or anything. But… If there’s anything I’ve learned from this whole thing is that... life’s too short. I almost lost you, and it killed me to think that you could have died without me telling you. Without you knowing you are loved. So… yeah. I love you.”

Keith is left dumbfounded, staring at Lance and wanting to say something, _anything_ , but he can’t make his mouth work, can’t make his brain form a complete sentence.

Lance seems to worry that maybe he’s said too much, came on too strong. So he continues, letting go of Keith and taking a step back: “But, uh… I understand if you don’t feel the same way, I just… I thought… Because of what you said… But maybe I misread the situation, I’m sorry, I…”

And Keith can’t have that. He hates to see Lance, always so sure of himself, looking that small, thinking he’s done something wrong. So, since he still can’t make any words come out of his mouth, he reaches out and, holding Lance’s face with both hands, takes a step forward and kisses him. 

He pulls back, not going far, resting their foreheads together and whispers the only thing that’s on his mind right now: “I love you too”

He can feel Lance smiling before he even opens his eyes. When he does, he’s so happy he did, because what he sees makes his heart skip a beat. He’s looking back at him with those ocean eyes filled with tears and a full, toothy grin, looking just so happy that Keith thinks his heart might explode to think that he’s done that, he’s the reason Lance looks this happy.

“Yeah?” he whispers.

Keith chuckles, because, seriously, how can he still doubt it? “Yeah.” he says, wiping some tears away from Lance’s cheek with his thumb. “I have for a while, actually. I think… I think since our bonding moment.” Keith says, a little sheepish.

“Gosh, seriously? Me too!” Lance says, laughing a little. Then his smile drops. “But, I guess… I just wasn’t ready yet. I thought I had a crush on Allura back then, and when you held me and these feelings came, I was confused. That’s why I said I didn’t remember. I just wasn’t ready to face that yet. I’m sorry.” he says, moving his hands to rest around Keith’s waist.

“That’s okay.” Keith says.

“But I think it was you all along, actually.” Lance goes on. “Even back at the Garrison.”

“The Garrison?” Keith asks.

“Yeah, I… might have had a crush on you back then, and that’s why I came up with this whole ‘rivalry’ thing in the first place…?” Lance says, grimacing a little.

Keith blinks, surprised. “Are you joking? I think I had a crush on you at the Garrison too!” he says.

“Wait, what? Really?” Lance says, clearly surprised too, but also so happy, his smile widening.

“Yeah! But actually I didn’t even realize this back until, like, three weeks ago, or so. I remember I had a crush on a guy named Taylor, and when I saw you when we went to rescue Shiro, I thought you looked really familiar, but I couldn’t quite place you. But then you said your name was Lance, and I didn’t know any Lance, so I thought that maybe you just looked like somebody I knew.

But, a few weeks ago, we were all hanging out on the Castle after a mission, and you and Hunk were reliving things about the Garrison, and Hunk said something about how you called yourself…”

“Tailor, because of how I thread the needle!” Lance finishes for him, as if just coming to a realization. Keith nods. “That’s when it all came together, I finally understood why you looked so familiar.”

“Oh man, are you kidding me?” Lance asks, so enthusiastic that he lets go of Keith to flap his arms around, no longer being able to stand still with the new revelation. “I remember seeing you dribbling the name ‘Taylor’ on your notebook with a heart one day, and ever since I was so jealous of that girl in our class, Taylor! I thought you liked her!”

“I… had no idea there was a girl named Taylor in our class.” Keith says, laughing at the confusion. 

Lance smiles at him, stepping forward and taking his hands. “I guess it was meant to be, huh?” he says, voice lower.

“Guess so.” Keith replies, with a little smile of his own. 

Lance brushes a strand of hair behind Keith’s ear, letting his hand linger at the base of his neck, playing with some small strands. Keith puts his hands on his waist, trying to ground himself. Then they’re both leaning in, meeting halfway in a kiss. This one isn’t like the others. It’s slow, and gentle, and wet, and tentative, all of this so new to them.

Lance moves his hand on Keith’s hair, carding his fingers through it, finally finding out how soft it is. Keith moves his hands on Lance’s back, up and down his spine and settling on his hips, pulling him closer. Lance tilts his head, deepening the kiss, and Keith parts his lips, letting the other’s tongue explore, then doing the same. Push and pull. Give and take. Just like everything else with them.

When they come apart for air, foreheads resting together, Keith doesn’t open his eyes. He’s thankful that he’s holding on to Lance, because he feels so lightheaded that he thinks he might pass out again.

As if reading his thoughts, Lance says “Don’t you ever… _Ever_ , dare to scare me like that again, you hear me? If you don’t die, I’ll kill you myself.”

Keith chuckles. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Good.” Lance says, with a sigh. “Because I want this… Us… to last for a good and long time, okay?”

Keith hugs him, hiding his face on the crook of his neck. “I want that too…” he says, and he can feel Lance smiling against the top of his head.

“We should… We should get back to the team. I’m pretty sure Coran still has to run some tests with you.” Lance says, breaking apart.

“Yeah, okay.” Keith says, a little disappointed. He wishes he could stay the rest of the day like this, just him and Lance.

“Come on.” Lance says, taking Keith by the hand, interlacing their fingers, and guiding him out of the room.

Keith looks down at their intertwined hands, fitting together so perfectly, and thinks that, when he decided to stay behind, he didn’t care what happened to him, as long as Lance and the rest of the team were safe. But now… He thinks he’s never been this happy to be alive.


End file.
